Curse

Bhaaltazar · Sep 25, 2006, 06:29 PM // 18:29

This pre-event showed Anet was listening to it's player base with some improvments toward previous chapters.

What i am asking you now is what would you like to see improved / fixed before official release.

And please this is not RANT thread what I want is constuctive criticism or ideas how you want something to be fixed.

AND DO NOT START YOUR ANSWER LIKE: "This preevent failed or GWN is doomed".

As I said be constructive so Anet may get some objective feedback.

Write like:

I liked the most: ....

I didnt like: ....... and i think it could be improved ......

IceKnight · Sep 25, 2006, 06:38 PM // 18:38

I liked the customization of hero NPC's. I would like to see all the classes have heros, but I am sure this was just because it was a preview event.

I enjoyed how you could command the hero’s skills being used; it was like playing many characters at once. The screen area there skill bars took up tended to clutter the screen though.

I enjoyed how you can command your henchmen to stand in specific areas to "pull monsters."

I felt the Sunspear titles were a very good idea to encourage PvE. I would like to see other things to enhance the PvE experience.

I didn't like the timers that seemed to be in place of many of the spells while loading them. Perhaps this was purely because of large amounts of lag seeing as how popular the event was.

I felt many of the primary quests were rather jumpy or non-linear. It seemed like you did one thing and travel to towns constantly. This made the game seem to go on forever when really it would of took a short time frame in comparison.

The trial part of the preview event was rather boring just a bunch of talking. It added to the storyline but it seemed like a waste.

I enjoyed many of the new NPC monsters but I feel some of there skills could have been altered to be more powerful. When Fractions previewed the game had a higher learning curve where in Nightfall it was quite easy in comparison.

Bhaaltazar · Sep 25, 2006, 07:24 PM // 19:24

I liked:
The custumization of skills and weaponary on heroes but:
I think all this skill customization would need little tweak so u could influence what skills should be used more ( for example: Aggresive stance - use all skills mostly on itself, defensive stance: distribute skills evenly to all in party, passive cast skills only on others ( and if necessary on itself - monk for healing )).
Here is also worth mentioning storage for heroes weapons ( i think it would be good if u could have 4 types of weapons equiped on them ( like on player only that heero would keep em in his inventory and u could switch em with F1-F4 )

I liked sunspear titles, very good idea but maybe it should be implemented a bit:

I didnt see any real difference in dmg or any other benefits from it. Id like to see this titles would have some benefits after you build em up ( same goes for other titles in faction that does nothing except you just have'em written under your name ( not enough motivation for me if i dont get anything for acheiving it ))

Quests: I d like too see more non-linear quests or missions ( like prophecies where u did missions where ever u wanted first, and where u could take time for bonus and exploring ( in this preview were both types ( faction and prophecies like ).

Secondary quests should offer more rewards than just soon unneeded XP and few golds. I hope it wouldnt end like in factions where i stopped doing quests after lvl 20. Rewards may be reason of replayability of game later on with other characters.

But overall I must say I was positivly surprised with the effort Anet tried to put in Nightfall. I hope it will only go up from here on.

Please share more of your obsevings so we can disccus em together.

HalPlantagenet · Sep 25, 2006, 08:07 PM // 20:07

First: congratulations for the nth time ArenaNet for an excellent preview of what appears to be the most ambitious release in the game's evolution.

Requests:

1. Please review the ranger armor dye strategy. Dying the jaguar skin makes it appear artificial and significantly degrades the overall appearance of the texture (and yes, I know that there are African tribes which do just that). But in this case it only makes one of the most striking aspects of the armor design much weaker.

2. A few more hair style options for Paragons and Dervishes would be most appreciated.

What can you deduce from these requests? In the context of everything of NightFall we've seen, if this all that someone who played almost continuously from Friday evening through Monday morning, leveling a character to 16, doing all the missions and most of the quests can ask, you have a phenominal release on your hands. Again congrats.

And please think again about the ranger animal skin dye strategy.

hubin_at · Sep 25, 2006, 08:10 PM // 20:10

I totally agree with the quest rewards. I really hope they will add skill rewards like they were present in prophecies (Though I doubt it actually

).

As they are now, when you hit level 20 and get a new quest, you just say "nah, again 2000 XP and 100 gold? I'll pass..."

Sarevok Thordin · Sep 25, 2006, 08:41 PM // 20:41

Quote:

Originally Posted by hubin_at

I totally agree with the quest rewards. I really hope they will add skill rewards like they were present in prophecies (Though I doubt it actually

).

As they are now, when you hit level 20 and get a new quest, you just say "nah, again 2000 XP and 100 gold? I'll pass..."

That's EXACTLY why people shunned the factions quests. NO SKILL REWARDS

Granted there weren't enough skills to warrent it. But all the same, XP is not a good enough reward anymore. Moar cash/pratical rewards will work.

Dixie Lady · Sep 25, 2006, 09:28 PM // 21:28

Different hair styles for the female monk and necro and some decent armour for the monk PLEASE! Remove 'wings' from Necro because they stick thru the guild cape. Make the ele look less like a stripper.

Put back the 'enter mission' button.

I guess I am unlike the others, I like to buy my skills since it saves time. I don't like waiting around on a favorite skill to show up in a quest, so I hope that won't change.

All in all a great game!

WasAGuest · Sep 25, 2006, 09:32 PM // 21:32

I loved most everything about the event. So, I would take several pages to write about what I loved.

What I want or would like to see changed or added:

More hair styles and faces for all classes and the in game ability (as in not from the GW Store) to change to those hair styles. My characters are traveling to a new land and would like to adapt to the local customs, just as I did when I went on vacation.
Removal of all locked gates and any and all situations that prevent exploration of this gorgeous new land. Factions might have looked good, but I've only got a vague idea since everywhere I turned I was blocked or had my hand held into a mission. I could explore now that I've finished it, but since there is no point now, I care not too.
Skill quests. I love having a reason to do quests. Quests that give experience in a game where exp is pretty much useless, makes the quests useless. Skill quests are a must.
Money quests. Same as above, but for a reward worth the time, 20 minutes for 100 gold... not worth the time.
Challenge Missions worth the time: Not sure about these yet, but if they are set to reward like Factions' Challenge Missions do, then these are again wasted. Make the Challenge Missions pay out more than or better than the average farming run. If I can make 2k in 10 minutes on a very boring farming run, then I would love and prefer to group and enjoy my time in a Challenge Mission. So the pay out in the Challenge Missions need to match that or my time feels wasted and I feel I cheated myself. Let's make these full of players by making them worth the time!
Bump Mapping: Where's the bump mapping in game that we see on the login screen?

Everything else was simply awesome! Good job Anet.

Woo The Po · Sep 25, 2006, 09:34 PM // 21:34

i think that dervish are way to imbalanced because they are near 100% better than war....

Saider maul · Sep 25, 2006, 09:45 PM // 21:45

I'd first like to start off by saying thank you Anet for the very much needed second preview event. With the capabilities of the Dervish and Paragon in the beta preview, this second Balance/test was greatly needed.

During this PvE preview I took about 1 hr to view the PvE and see the landscape. From what Guildies have told me its breathe taking and the New Henchie system even though a tad cumbersome to use is better by far then the typical hench system.

I then switched to PvP. The CoP build was greatly diminished and the spikes that were use reduced by over 30dmg and recharges were multiplied by 4.
A massive drop in mysticisms healing ability was implimented and energy gain was capped at 5.

I ran a scythe as a D/N ( death attribute ) , D/A ( Shadow arts ) ,
D/ME ( inspiration ), D/W ( Tactic ) , D/E ( Air ).

As a scythe character the dervish is ok but does lack a tad for the following reasons....
First and for most the dmg range. 9-41 is extremely inconsistant a 30dmg average window makes dmg vary greatly. For a front line dmg dealer this is not exceptable because its not even remotely predictable.

Energy managment is rather rough for a scythe user due to a very low energy Bar cap and enchatments not being as previlent as an enchantment spammer. Combine this with lack of points in mysticism and your looking at 3-4e per enchantment.
Carrying 2-3 enchantments 20sec recharge and 3-4 scythe skills 4-12 sec recharges, most of which strip your enchantments and cost mostly 10e,... You will find yourself drained and skilless quite often.

The dervish as a caster dmg dealer. Similar to CoP I chose a D/W and ran ViMway. Vim is greatly complimented by the AoE conditions caused by the enchantment stripping I ran 5 enchantments, 1 strip, ViM, and either a res or armor buff. ( not watch yourself ) my spike read like this....60,60, 78, 130-155 + bleeding, weakness, crippling, Burning. The 60 dmg skills are direct dmg and the earth spikes are read thru armor
( fix sandstorm it was reading direct ) , The combo went off in seconds and then 15 seconds to wait for recharges. True it was considerable conditioning and moderate spiking ability but the recharge of D enchantments was rediculious, these recharges make for a long wait for casting dervish and also hurt a scythe user who needs them more.
As a caster ViM made up for what mysticism now lacks. All in all I wouldn't call the current dervish caster over powered but it does have some issues.
Most the dervish heals are both powerful and spammable. I ran vital Boon 8sec recharge. This is the staple heal for a dervish and to a scythe its needed and yeilds about 150 = to heal sig. As a caster vital boon heals for 192+15 = to generous was tsungrai,.. it however needs a slightly higher recharge.
Mysticism on the other hand should get some of the healing ability back.
I never gained more then 75hp and 25E from mysticism. I agree the energy gain is perfect but the hp should be raised to 2 per point and some of the heals extended and dropped by 20hp.

Please note I am not complaining, I made over 100k faction this weekend alone.
I just want to show that the dervish is not quite balanced. as a scythe they dont have the Energy to keep dmg pressure/heals skills going and as a caster they have to much recharge time on enchantments for the dmg reduction of the spikes.

as for ViM... ViM is broken when it comes to a dervish using it. at one point my dervish hit vim at 17/531hp and 5/48energy I have 8 in tactic and healed for 880 hp and 85e!!!!!! This skill needs a 250-300hp 25-30e cap.

I suggest:...
reduce vital boon's healing ability by 20-30hp and give it a 10 sec recast.
Making dwaynas touch a 8 sec recharge.
place a cap on ViM 250-300hp 25-30e
reduce the recharge on all D enchantments to 15sec 1sec cast time
Increase Aura of thorns recharge to 15sec 1sec cast time
Change mysticism to 2 hp for every point max = 30 and 1e for every 3 max 5
reduce the recharges of scythe attacks skills
stablize the dmg of scythe ( 14-36/38 )

as for paragons.... stunning spear is rediculous. 10a and they can use dozens of adreniline boosting skills to keep spamming it. This skill causes dazed for up to 17 sec and causes it unconditionally. This skill should have its duration reduced or made so someone has to be suffering from some type of condition.
Paragons and ranger paragons kept this up none stop on multiple targets.

all in all this was a better preview and true both new classes are very strong but with the new skills coming out all others are boosted with them. They just need more of a balancing then a nerfing.

Feminist Terrorist · Sep 25, 2006, 09:47 PM // 21:47

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dixie Lady

Put back the 'enter mission' button.

QFT!! I had no friggin' idea I was in a mission until it was over. Very disconcerting.

I'd love to have additional face and hair choices for NF. Some of those faces and horrible, and the male paragon is severely limited in facial appearance. Needs more diversity overall.

Tozen · Sep 25, 2006, 10:38 PM // 22:38

Game is 95% perfect as is IMHO, but there are two HUGE flaws.

1) The Deadly Arts tree still has no self-heal and practically no usability outside of dagger mastery. Hence, although some of the new skills are interesting, I can't use deadly arts and still manage to survive AT ALL -OR- in the opposite extreme, do damage AT ALL. (I either sacrifice dagger mastery or shadow mastery)

2) Most Dervishes and Paragons look like clones at the moment. More facial styles

Please strongly consider both of these points ANet if you still have time. Thanks!

Tyggen · Sep 25, 2006, 10:40 PM // 22:40

Ok, let me try to recap.

I'm very pleased with the way the heroes work, but I posted that in more detail in another thread so I won't go into details here.
I really liked that they recycled maps for certain quests and missions. Fighting in the towns was a great way of enhancing the story.
I like the quests marked with master difficulty, although they won't give me much the second time through, they were really a challenge the first time. Especially the two Skale quests in the islands.
The leveling is slower then Factions, that is good.
The introduction of Sunspear advancement points is both good and bad. It gives the game an unnecessary grind, but also makes the story more immersive.
I like that you had to be level 5 to get a secondary. 5 doesn't take long, even if you're in a hurry, and it's enough to teach new players a bit more before they're faced with two professions.
I like that you had to choose a hero in one quest, and the Tribunal quest which I utterly messed up the first time through.
The WPE took me three days of casual gaming to play through (as in not playing 10 hours a day), perfect length on the event. I finished absolutely everything and made level 20 about three hours before the event ended without stressing to make it.

...the not so good things

As I mentioned before, the sunspear points give a grind. It's really not that big deal though.
I liked the master quests, but the master tag doesn't really tell me much about how difficult its going to be. A master quest I picked up in Zehlon Reach was far easier then one from the Cliffs of Dohjok, even if I picked up the one from the cliffs much earlier then the others.
Harpies with bows look silly.

That's it, can't think of any more right now, maybe later.

-edit-

One more thing I found odd. The game is supposed to take place in an African theme, but half the henchies look like they just came from a Swedish farm. Shouldn't most, if not all, be tanned or dark skinned?

Since the characters you can make come with the options of being white, dark, darker, even darker or darkest. I think the henchies should at least use an average spread of those skin tones.

Please note, I know this is nitpicking, but, like I said, I just found it odd. Also, I'm not trying to offend Swedes, just making a point :P

Clawdius_Talonious · Sep 25, 2006, 10:49 PM // 22:49

The hero AI should hopefully be more polished before release. I was also on when they updated the AI for all henchmen, and after that a mission (Sunjiang District) became much harder for me to do with henchmen for some reason, or most certainly seemed to. After all, I had been able to get masters on every run with henchies before that, but that night it was tougher. I managed to solo it with masters but the henchies died and were just generally weaker AI wise IMO than normal... I doubt very seriously that it was the person I was running the mission with, as even when I did it by myself and henchies the henchies died a disproportionate amount of time comparatively, to the number of times that I had seen them die before. However maybe I was just caught unawares by an unmentioned Sunjiang update? Perhaps they wanted the urn and spear to I dunno, be useful more than worthless in that mission?

=HT=Ingram · Sep 26, 2006, 12:03 AM // 00:03

Seems the return of Skill reward quests over Exp and Gold is the number two request behind the Auction House...

I know for a Old character especially... like my original near 3 year old Ingram of Haz if you count Early betas... It costs a fortune to buy skills when a new chapter comes out. I would love to do some quests for low end campaign skills at least. reserving something like 10 higher end skills and the elites (via Cap Sig) for skill points and 1 plat each... Its not the Skill points I have plenty of that... its the gold... I don't farm, I play, so this particular gold sink is a pain in the butt for a real PvE player.

gwhobo · Sep 26, 2006, 12:20 AM // 00:20

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dixie Lady

Put back the 'enter mission' button.

I guess I am unlike the others, I like to buy my skills since it saves time. I don't like waiting around on a favorite skill to show up in a quest, so I hope that won't change.

All in all a great game!

The absence of the enter mission button was so people couldn't be ran there and just do mission, but get some of the storyline and primary quests (Sort of like having closed doors but techninally not)

You mean with people asking for skill points back, right?
They aren't asking for actual skills, notice when you buy a skill it takes one skill point + so much gold? That's what they want back in quests, which is the same thing as those skills points you see in your Hero [H] Screen

Lord Palidore · Sep 26, 2006, 01:21 AM // 01:21

I like the new new mission and quest system, actually.

Rather than just being completely straight forward by just pressing "Enter Mission," or "Go here, kill that," you can really interact and get into the story more.

I LOVE the heroes, but there still is some general issues that need to be tweaked.
Specifically:
-Need to make it so the skill effects bar on heroes need to have the effects going horizontal, rather than vertical.
-Fix the Agressive/Defensive toggles. It seems that sometimes when I switch the toggles from agressive, to defensive, and back to agressive, the heroes "think" that they are still defensive for some odd reason, and wont attack foes attacking us within the area unless I target/attack them. Also, when I put my heroes on defensive, they dont always act properly defensive like the website says they should..ie I put my monk heroes on defensive, but they dont keep towards the back on the group like the website describes; They still seem to be the first along with Koss to go right upfront and attack.

Another specific error:
I target Koss on the party window, and then click "mending" on his skill bar. For some odd reason though, sometimes the target will automatically switch to another hero, in my case Dunkoro, and cast mending at him. The only real counter I've found is to target Koss, click mending, then rapidly click Koss's name on the party window so the target wont go switching.

One more hero issue..(

) ..is that in many cases, the heroes are much to slow to respond for some reason.

One smaller issue, assuming Anet folks read our post, which I also assume they do according to Gaile anyways, is that some of the Nightfall skills have minor capitalization issues here and there. No big deal, but something to fix anyhow.

TheBaron82 · Sep 26, 2006, 02:51 AM // 02:51

I think the most important fix of all is the bad lag. Without lag means more customers, more customers results in more money, from there Anet can start shaping the game. Oh and I would also like to see more benefits for players who own all campaign, in a way we lost 2 char slots per chapter compare to making a new account and storage. Yes I do know we get variety of skills/skins to choose from, but I want MORE!

Plushie Penguin · Sep 26, 2006, 02:56 AM // 02:56

Maybe a little more of a hint for new players on how to get koss into their party![I spent about ten minutes trying to find help on wiki and places!]

<.< >.> and maybe some character upgrading npcs to help our old characters look a little nicer/rename them if that's possable

Quid Pro Quo · Sep 26, 2006, 02:58 AM // 02:58

Quote:

Originally Posted by Woo The Po

i think that dervish are way to imbalanced because they are near 100% better than war....

Quote:

Originally Posted by Woo The Po

i think that dervish are way to imbalanced because they are near 100% better than war....

Quote:

Originally Posted by Woo The Po

i think that dervish are way to imbalanced because they are near 100% better than war....

I'd say your pretty wrong there and probably play a warrior yourself.
I bet most of the people here would agree that the Dervish got nerfed too hard and need to be rebalanced to a place thats more comfortable before ruining more proffesions and not rebalancing them until the next expansion was released.